Dear Bob, here are some photos of my life here on the campus of Concordia Seminary. I love kids, working with the grounds crew, swimming, playing with my dog friends, and especially my own family people.

Twitter Updates

August 17, 2017

Late yesterday afternoon St. Louis suffered a torrential downpour and storm right about the time rush hour was beginning. It got dark, windy and rained so heavily that roads flooded, accidents happened and cars were bumper to bumper on interstates and surface streets. We got caught in this as we tried to take friends to dinner. Every main artery was filled with cars and the visibility was awful. But after it ended there must have been a terrific rainbow and in some areas, a double rainbow. KMOV channel 4 received a picture from a viewer who was on I-70 near St. Peter's when he caught this.

Very cool.

Then this from Canada. A woman weeding her vegetable garden pulled up a carrot with what turned out to be her mother in law's engagement ring inside which was lost 13 years ago.

August 16, 2017

I was looking at tv's online because we recently recycled two which had died. I noticed the prices are much lower than they used to be and most come with all kinds of connectivity. There are built in apps, WiFi, and most everything else. What stopped me was the many smart remotes which come with the tv's. How do these work when you have cable and it has it's own remote?

We don't even need the remote which comes with our television, the cable box has its own. So are the features on the smart remote not usable? I'll have to ask an expert. Sometimes we just want to watch tv, not wade through a ton of different things. Turn it on, find a channel and that's it.

The most important thing to me is having a high resolution tv, 1080 not the 720, there's a big difference in clarity. Not that 720 is bad, it's just that by comparison it's not as clear.

August 15, 2017

This tongue in cheek news release from the Collinsville Police Department is a great diversion from the other hundreds which have been put out by other entities. And there are probably 1000's of these others which take the form of cautionary tales. Well done Collinsville PD.

"With the solar eclipse coming next week, we thought it prudent to share with you a few things pertaining to this celestial event. By a process and method we don’t fully understand, the sun will be blocked out on August 21. We have been told this has happened before but being prepared is the key. In the event all life as we know it ends in the blink of an eye, we're done. Not much can really follow total annihilation of the Earth. Remember, there used to be dinosaurs. Short of that, we can work toward surviving the aftermath. As the sun fades from view, there is the very real possibility of the dead coming back to life. Feel secure in knowing we have a contingency plan in place for this. We are well trained and completely up to the task of taking the world back from these lethargic, smelly creatures should this occur. To be clear, we are talking zombies not teenagers. Some scientists state the solar eclipse may cause the gravitational pull of the earth to suddenly reverse polarity causing everything to become weightless and to spin off into space. To combat this possibility, we strongly encourage anchoring yourself to the ground through the use of a rope and a deeply rooted stake. Your dog, which is tied up outside, is already well ahead of the game. Take a lesson from them. If you want to stare at the sun so you can remember what it looks like before it fades from view forever, make sure you are using approved eyewear. Supposedly, aside from the yellow light we are used to seeing, there are lots of “invisible” lights like UVA, UVB, IR, and other initials that can make you blind. We understand, when the sun fades from view, everyone will be bumbling around in the darkness but, if you want to see as you make your way during the end times with flashlights and gas lanterns, you should heed the warnings. Finally, there is a minority of our officers (about 99%) who think nothing of any great significance will happen. They think the sky will get dark for a few minutes and then go back to normal. Whatever."

August 14, 2017

St. Louis and other cities have seen a plague of car break-ins, car thefts, and other crimes like this. They happen all over the area but the south city area has seen a huge uptick in these crimes. Now a story warns that we need to be aware of a big increase in stolen license plates. Plates are being stolen frequently (32 in Tower Grove in July alone).

This is one of those nuisance crimes, not only is the vehicle owner out his plates, he has to spend time with the department of motor vehicles to get replacements. Plus make sure the old plates and sticker are reported stolen. I had my car stickers stolen from my license plates last spring while at the airport. I was advised to scratch up the new ones after putting them on to deter thieves. But, man, now they're taking the whole plate.

During last year's Christmas season I moaned more than a little over the empty shelves where the Original Triscuits were supposed to be. The space for these Triscuits was empty and many stores while all the types with weird flavors were full. Since then, there has not been any problem getting the original crackers. Til now

This is what I came across in the Richmond Center Schnucks this weekend.

One lonely box was all that was there. This business with the original triscuits still peaks my curiosity, especially in this area. Who's buying all of them and why?

Food Network puts out a magazine each month which is chock full of information, photos and even quizzes. Unlike many magazine this one isn't full of ads. The September issue has several pages featuring cooking tips they've received from readers and many are fun and helpful. Here are a few I will definitely use.

If your butter is cold and hard which makes it difficult to spread on bread muffins or bagels, use a vegetable peeler to pull off thin strips.

Put foil on the inside of a Dutch Oven lid so you won't have to wash it. This one I will do for sure.

Several tips suggest adding a shot espresso to chili or a bit of instant coffee granules to gravy for a richer flavor.

An egg slicer cuts up mushrooms into even sized slices.

Once or twice a year I make a vegetable lasagna and it calls for a package of frozen spinach which has been thawed. This means having to squeeze the water out of the spinach and that is a bit of a pain. One tip advises using a potato ricer to squeeze out the water. I'm not sure I have a ricer, I used to, but if I can't find it I may go get one. They're very cheap and, it seems, worth it for spinach alone.

This one made me laugh, but since I don't like handling raw poultry, I may just try this. Use plastic grocery bags as gloves when you have to prepare raw poultry. Put one on each hand and supposedly you have mobility and lots of wiggle room. Toss them when done.